FederalDaily.com > DoD Launches Electronic Health Record System

FederalDaily - November 23, 2005

DoD Launches Electronic Health Record System

The Department of Defense (DoD) launched its global electronic health record system, called AHLTA. According to DoD, AHLTA is the largest electronic health record system of its kind with the potential to serve more than 9 million servicemembers, retirees and their families worldwide. When fully implemented, about 60,000 military health care professionals at DoD medical facilities in the United States and 11 other countries will use this system. “Beneficiaries’ health records will be available around the clock and around the world, available to healthcare providers, yet protected from loss and unauthorized access,” said Dr. William Winkenwerder, DoD’s assistant secretary for health affairs. Full deployment of the system in DoD’s 800 clinics and 70 hospitals will be complete by December 2006. More information on AHLTA can be found at www.ha.osd.mil/AHLTA.

House Committee Passes Border Security Bill

The Border Security and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2005 passed through the House Committee on Homeland Security with a unanimous vote on Nov. 17. The bill, introduced by committee chairman Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., would:

authorize 1,000 new, full-time port of entry inspectors over the next four years and the training of 1,500 additional K-9 units over the next five years;

reauthorize the addition of 8,000 new border agents and 32,000 new detention beds over the next four years;

establish physical barriers and incorporate widespread, state-of-the-art surveillance technology, including cameras, sensors, radar, satellite and unmanned aerial vehicles, to ensure 100 percent coverage of the borders; and

require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary to take immediate action to address “the inefficiencies and poor communication” between the two main border security agencies within DHS, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection.

More information on the bill (H.R. 4312) is available at http://homeland.house.gov.

VOA Outsourcing Protested

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) announced that it is fighting against a decision by the Voice of America (VOA) to outsource jobs to Hong Kong; AFGE is fighting on behalf of federal employees. AFGE alleges that under the VOA’s plan, English language news-writing jobs currently performed by Americans would be given to Chinese contractors. Several congressmen have addressed the issue too. In a letter to VOA Director David Jackson, Sen. Paul Sarbanes, D-Md., urged the VOA to be as “transparent as possible concerning the information used in reaching the final decision [to outsource federal jobs].” AFGE President John Gage said, “AFGE is grateful to the members of Congress for heeding our concerns about the VOA’s outsourcing scheme.”

Biden Calls for Additional FBI Resources

Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., on Nov. 17 introduced legislation that would provide the FBI with 1,000 new agents to focus on traditional crime cases. Since Sept. 11, 2001, much of the FBI’s focus shifted to counter-terrorism, Biden said, and the senator wants to ensure the bureau can continue performing its other duties, such as drug trafficking and violent crime prevention. “Overworked FBI agents have been forced to cast aside a wide array of critical cases ranging from drug probes to violent street gangs to white collar investigations,” said Biden. A 2004 report by the Department of Justice’s inspector general found that from fiscal years 2000-2003, agent utilization in the National Foreign Intelligence Program increased by 1,400 agents, while the total number in the white-collar, organized, drug and violent/major crime sectors decreased by a total of 1,871—that’s in addition to agents working on counter-terrorism cases who are not officially re-assigned. Biden’s initiative would cost approximately $160 million per year.